Alfred M. Moen was the inventor of the Moen® single-handle “Dialcet” mixing faucet and the founder of Moen, Inc., a manufacturer of single-handle faucets and other plumbing products. Born in Seattle, Wash. on Dec. 27, 1916, Moen graduated from Franklin High School in 1934 and later studied mechanical engineering at the University of Washington. In 1959, Fortune Magazine listed the Moen® “one-handle mixing faucet,” along with inventions such as Henry Ford's Model T and Benjamin Franklin's Franklin stove, as one of the top 100 best-designed mass-produced products. This distinction was the result of a survey among the world's leading industrial designers, architects and university professors of industrial design conducted by industrial designer Jay Doblin. Al Moen was nominated to the National Inventors Hall of Fame and was named to the Kitchen & Bath Industry Hall of Fame in 1993.
The inspiration for Al Moen's invention came in 1937 after he turned on a two-handle faucet and burned his hands. Over the next decade, Moen made several faucet designs and improvements. With the advent of World War II, he went to work as a tool designer at a military shipyard plant in Seattle. Moen could not find a manufacturer free to start production until after the war. In 1947, he persuaded Kemp Hiatt at Ravenna Metal Products of Seattle to finance and produce his latest design for a single-handled mixing faucet. This led to the creation of Moen, Inc., one of the nation's major producers of plumbing products. Moen® faucets were soon included in many homes built in the United States during the post-World War II building boom. In 1956, Stanadyne, a major manufacturer of diesel injection pumps, negotiated with Ravenna Metal Projects to acquire rights to the Moen® single-handle faucet. By 1979, Moen® faucet revenues had reaced $100 million, one quarter of Stanadyne's total revenue. Al Moen served as head of the company's research and development until his retirement in 1982. Stanadyne was acquired by Forstmann-Little & Company in 1988 and then purchased by the consumer-products holding company Fortune Brands. Fortune Brands then spun off its related product lines to form the Fortune Brands Home & Security company on Oct. 3, 2011.
Most Moen® kitchen, washbasin, and bathtub/shower faucets are of the single-handle design, and almost all have used the same basic water-controlling cartridge since the 1960s. Known as the Moen® 1225, it is a plastic (older versions were brass) cylinder approximately 4 inches long by ¾ inches in diameter. As the core component in most Moen® single-handle faucets, it has undergone at least two revisions since its inception though newer versions remain compatible with older faucets. Pulling up the control stem of the cartridge opens the water supply; rotating the control stem toward the left (i.e., counterclockwise) opens the hot water passages while rotating it to the right (i.e., clockwise) opens the cold water passages (using the standard North American convention of the hot water control on the left).
Later Moen® bathtub/shower controls with single handles use a larger cartridge with a pressure balancing mechanism which compensates for sudden pressure changes in either the hot or cold water supply inputs to the valve (as caused by a toilet being flushed while someone is showering). The design goal is to maintain the temperature of the shower for safety and comfort reasons, even if the volume of water is reduced. The cartridge is known as the 1222. The operation is similar to the 1225 (above) though the cartridge is approximately 1 inch in diameter to allow space for the pressure balancing mechanism.
Referring now to FIG. 1, the standard Moen® faucet valve 100 with a 0.75-inch diameter cylindrical valve cartridge containment chamber 101, and the pressure-balancing feature, has been around since the 1960s. The valve cartridge is 102 is about 0.75 inch in diameter, and is held in place by a retainer clip 103. The lip 104 surrounding the valve cartridge containment chamber 101 is approximately 0.125 inch wide, resulting in a cartridge housing 105 that is about one inch in outside diameter. A rotatable brass control stem 106 is free to rotate axially as long as no trim components are installed on the valve. An aperture 107 axially drilled in the exposed end of the rotatable brass control stem 106 and threaded with a 10-24 tap enables a handle to be secured to the axially-slidable and rotatable control stem 106 and also allows the cartridge to be extracted using several available valve cartridge extractors following removal of the retainer clip 103 that prevents axial movement of the cartridge within the cartridge containment chamber 101. Millions of these faucet valves were installed in residential showers, bathtubs and faucets until the federal government, in its superior wisdom, decided that such valves posed a risk of scalding users.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a Model 2520 Moen® Posi-Temp faucet valve 200 has a one-inch diameter cylindrical valve cartridge containment chamber 201. The lip 202 surrounding the chamber is approximately 0.125 inch wide, resulting in a cartridge housing 203 that is about 1.25 inch in diameter. Ears 204-U and 204-L on the Moen® Posi-Temp Model 1220 cartridge 205 fit within upper and lower recesses 206-U and 206-L, respectively, in the lip 202. As with the older style Moen® valve, the exposed end of a rotatable brass control stem 207 is equipped with an aperture 208 that is axially drilled and threaded with a 10-24 tap so that a handle can be secured to the control stem 207 and so that the cartridge 205 can be extracted using several available valve cartridge extractors. A retainer clip 209 prevents axial and rotational movement of the cartridge 205 within the cartridge containment chamber 201, thereby securing the cartridge 205 within the valve cartridge containment chamber 201.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the Moen® Posi-Temp faucet valve body 300 is identical to that of FIG. 2, with the exception that this valve body 300 has lip extensions 301-A and 301-B at the opening of the valve cartridge containment chamber. The presence of lip extensions 301-A and 301-B necessitate the cutouts 606-A and 606-B on the fore end of the tubular extractor body 600. As a matter of clarification, the cartridge housing is that generally cylindrical portion of the valve body that actually holds the cartridge. Thus, if the cartridge has been extracted from the cartridge housing, it has also been extracted from the valve body.
Moen® cartridges are so reliable that many remain in place for more than 30 years without servicing. A problem associated with the longevity of Moen® valve cartridges is that hard water deposits build up within the valve body over time and interfere with extraction of the cartridge from the cylindrical bore of the valve body. A cylindrical bore coated with hard water deposits is of smaller diameter than the rubber seals on the cartridge that must be removed. Invariably, the removal of an old cartridge from the valve body results in complete destruction of the cartridge seals. Consequently, without the proper extraction tools, replacement of a Moen® valve cartridge can be extremely difficult.
A number of different tools have been designed to facilitate the extraction of a Moen® valve cartridge from the valve body. Some are more effective than others.
Danco, a company having its headquarters at 2727 Chemsearch Blvd. in Irving, Tex. 75062, manufactures a four-piece 86712A Cartridge Puller for Moen® cartridges. An externally-threaded aluminum puller shaft, having an aluminum handle, is axially drilled so that it can be secured to the threaded aperture of the cartridge control stem using a separate 10-24 steel screw. An internally-threaded aluminum collar threadably engages the external threads of the puller shaft. While hold the aluminum handle, the collar is tightened against the lip of the cartridge housing, using a large wrench, to remove the cartridge. For tough jobs, it can be considered a one-time use tool, as the aluminum tends to bend and break.
JAG Plumbing Products, a company having its headquarters at 901 Dillingham Road, Pickering, Ontario, Canada L1W 2Y5 supplies a more robust, four-piece Moen® cartridge extractor tool that functions much like the Danco tool. Manufactured of steel and composite materials, it uses a steel right-hand-threaded central puller shaft having a 10-24 coupler screw that engages the threaded aperture of the brass cartridge control stem. A fiber-reinforced plastic composite extractor collar fits over the puller shaft and is threadably and rotatably coupled to the puller shaft by means of a laminar steel handle that is drilled and tapped in the center to engage the threads of the puller shaft. This extractor collar is designed for the removal of ¾-inch diameter cartridges. Thus, removal of the cartridge is a three-step process: first, thread the coupler screw into the threaded aperture of the cartridge control stem; second, prevent the puller shaft from rotating with an adjustable-end wrench; and three, tighten the extractor collar against the lip of the cartridge housing, thereby extracting the cartridge. For 1-inch diameter cartridges, a fiber reinforced plastic composite adapter fits over the fore end of the extractor collar.